The invention generally relates to developing hypertext mark-up language (xe2x80x9cHTMLxe2x80x9d) computer code, and more specifically relates to automatically inserting HTML computer code for interactive HTML objects within a computer application program.
With the use of the Internet increasing on a daily basis, the appearance of new web sites has increased at a seemingly exponential rate. Many of these new web sites are authored by individuals with little or no experience in programming Hypertext Markup Language (xe2x80x9cHTMLxe2x80x9d). However, web site authors want their web site to look as if a professional HTML programmer designed it. Unfortunately, hiring a professional HTML programmer can be expensive and beyond the financial means of most individuals.
One method to make a web site look like it was designed by a professional, as well as make it more useful to users, is to add interactive HTML object. Interactive HTML objects may be graphics or text, such as a marquee or a button to open a URL. However, creating interactive HTML object from xe2x80x9cscratchxe2x80x9d is not a simple task and is typically beyond the ability of most web site authors. For example, many interactive HTML objects require the support of server-side scripts on the web server (e.g., Active Server Pages (xe2x80x9cASPsxe2x80x9d), Computer graphics interface (xe2x80x9cCGIxe2x80x9d)-scripts, etc.). Normally, these server-side scripts are complex to write and are typically beyond the ability of the average web site author.
Furthermore, if the server-side scripts for the interactive HTML object are written incorrectly, they can pose a serious security threat for the Internet Service Provider (xe2x80x9cISPxe2x80x9d) servers. As a result, many ISPs often require a premium price for hosting a web site with server-side scripts. Additionally, the HTML code that is required to interact with the server-side scripts is equally complex for the average web site author to write.
As a result, many companies have created web site authoring tools, which claim to facilitate the creation of HTML objects without requiring the web site author to have any knowledge of HTML or server-side script programming. Unfortunately, these tools are often unable to produce the HTML code required for interacting with server-side scripts. Furthermore, the tools that do support this type of HTML use outdated functions, such as xe2x80x9cInsert HTML Code Fragment,xe2x80x9d which require the web site author to have a working knowledge of programming HTML and are generally not xe2x80x9cWhat You See Is What You Getxe2x80x9d(xe2x80x9cWYSIWYGxe2x80x9d).
One method to help web site authors insert interactive HTML object into their web pages was to provide the HTML code for the interactive HTML object over the Internet. One such web site that provides interactive HTML object over the Internet is LinkExchange operated by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. However, the LinkExchange service only partially solves this problem. LinkExchange will host all the necessary scripts on the server, so users are not faced with the complexity and expense of creating these scripts themselves. But LinkExchange only provides users with minimal help in creating web pages that interact properly with the server-side scripts. Upon completion of a registration process, LinkExchange provides the web site author with a customized block of HTML that corresponds to an interactive HTML object. However, the task of inserting the HTML code into the web page is left up to the user. Unfortunately, this can often be a difficult task. Specifically, the user must go through a multi-step process to incorporate the interactive HTML object into the web page. For example, the user must first create the web page in a web-authoring tool. Next, the author must register with the LinkExchange (or any similar interactive HTML object) web site. Finally, the user must incorporate the provided HTML code into their web page by manually inserting the block of customized HTML code into the existing HTML code.
Another problem with using the HTML interactive code web sites is that the user cannot access the web site from the application program they are using to develop their web page. The user must first exit the web-authoring tool, and open an Internet browser application program, such as INTERNET EXPLORER, developed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., to access the HTML code server web site. Once the user retrieves the interactive HTML object, they must manually insert the HTML code themselves into the web page. Then, if the user wants to view the interactive content, they must save the web page in the authoring application and open the web page in the Internet browser application program. This process of having to use a separate Internet browser application to view the interactive HTML object in the user""s web page, is both time consuming and confusing to the average web page developer. This, in turn can lead to users making numerous errors in building their web pages and ultimately leads to user frustration.
Thus, there is a general need in the art for a more convenient and efficient method for inserting interactive HTML object into a web page. There is a further need for a method for inserting interactive HTML objects into a web page, which automatically retrieves all the required HTML code from the HTML interactive web site with out requiring any user intervention or knowledge of HTML or server-side script programming.
The present invention meets the above-described needs in a software utility for inserting an interactive HTML object into an electronic file, such as an Internet web page. Specifically, the utility allows a user to select an interactive HTML object from a remote HTML code server web site. The utility then automatically inserts the HTML code associated with the interactive HTML object into the user""s web page.
Generally described, a WEB Content Customization (xe2x80x9cWCCxe2x80x9d) utility allows a user to automatically insert an interactive HTML object into an existing web page.
First, the user opens the HTML file, such as a web page, in a web-authoring tool. The user first selects the option to insert an HTML object into the HTML document. Next, the WCC utility retrieves the URL address of a remote site that contains interactive HTML objects. The WCC utility then automatically establishes a link with the HTML code service web site. Next, the user selects an interactive HTML object and the WCC utility retrieves a block of HTML code associated with the selected interactive HTML object. Finally, the WCC utility automatically inserts the interactive HTML object into the electronic file in the web-authoring tool.
More specifically, the WCC utility creates a dialog box in the web-authoring tool and launches an HTML rendering engine in the dialog box. The WCC utility then opens the HTML code service web site in the rendering engine in the dialog box. The dialog box contains at least one window that displays a list of the available interactive HTML object that the user may select. Once the user selects an interactive HTML object, the WCC utility then transfers the associated HTML computer code from the remote site to the web-authoring tool, where the WCC utility automatically inserts the HTML computer code into the electronic file.
The WCC utility may also store an identifying indicia, such as a uniform resource locator (URL), associated with the web site that provided the interactive HTML object. When the user wishes to reconfigure the interactive HTML object, this URL is used by the HTML rendering engine to retrieve the appropriate web page. This removes the need for the user to remember a complex sequence of steps required to reconfigure the object. Also, this URL may contain data that identifies the user or identifies the particular object. This allows the program to bring the user to the relevant web page immediately, bypassing or simplifying the log-on process.
Furthermore, the web site providing the interactive content includes some client-side script (such as JavaScript or VBScript) that automatically delivers the HTML to the authoring application. The WCC utility then inserts the HTML data into the electronic file. The position of the HTML interactive object in the electronic file may be provided by the HTML code service web site or may be specified by the user.
The HTML code service web site providing the interactive HTML object may choose to specify predetermined dimensions for the content. In this case, the authoring application will reserve an area on the page of the correct size. If the web site does not specify dimensions, the authoring application will allow the size of the content to be adjusted by the user through the use of an input device.
The Webster providing the interactive object contains a block of JavaScript specially designed to communicate directly with the host application (the web-authoring tool). This communication takes place via xe2x80x9cOLE automationxe2x80x9d. Those skilled in the art will be familiar with OLE automation, as a standard mechanism used by scripts (such as those contained in web pages) to interact with other objects. This allows the HTML code service web site to automatically download a block of HTML code associated with the interactive HTML object directly into the electronic file open in the web-authoring tool. This provides several advantages over the previous methods of inserting HTML objects into electronic files. First the user never sees the block of code associated with the interactive HTML object . The WCC utility allows for the block of HTML code to be downloaded to the web-authoring tool and inserted into the electronic file without the user ever viewing the block of code. Secondly, the WCC utility reduces the complexity inserting interactive HTML objects into files by running the HTML rendering engine within the web-authoring tool
That the invention improves over the drawbacks of web authoring systems for creating interactive HTML object and accomplishes the advantages described above will become apparent from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments and the appended drawings and claims.